The effects of demotion on older and younger employees
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/00483481011017417 |
| Pages | 195-209 |
| Date | 09 February 2010 |
| Published date | 09 February 2010 |
| Author | Edith Josten,René Schalk |
| Subject Matter | HR & organizational behaviour |
The effects of demotion on older
and younger employees
Edith Josten
The Netherlands Institute for Social Research/SCP, The Hague,
The Netherlands, and
Rene
´Schalk
Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands
Abstract
Purpose – Demotion is sometimes recommended as an instrument for extending older workers’ labor
force participation. There is, however, very little research on the effects of demotion on employees. The
purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate these effects, and to test whether they differ for older
and younger workers.
Design/methodology/approach – The data come from a biannual panel study among employees
working in health care or social services. There were 45 cases of demotion among older employees
(aged 45 or over) and 62 cases among younger employees in the data set. The control group consisted
of 7,727 cases in which there had been no change in function.
Findings – Employees who were demoted had more feelings of exhaustion prior-to the demotion
than employees who did not change function. The demotion only reduced the levels of exhaustion in
the case of older employees who moved to a less physically demanding position. Satisfaction with job
content decreased regardless of age group or changes in physical workload.
Research limitations/implications – The number of demotions was relatively small. There was
no information on the reasons for the demotion. Therefore, we could not test whether the effects of
demotion vary according to the reason for the demotion.
Practical implications – In light of the results of this study, employers who are considering
demoting an employee should check carefully whether there are other suitable options that have fewer
negative consequences for the employee.
Originality/value – There is very little empirical research on the effects of demotion – this paper
fills some of the gaps.
Keywords Older workers,Job satisfaction, Social services,Employees, Motivation (psychology)
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Demotion implies a downward movement. In an organizational context, it means the
move of an employee to a less important position (Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary,
2009) or to a position with a lower occupational status (More, 1962). Employers and
employees alike have long regarded demotion as a kind of failure, as something one
should only turn to as a last resort. Moving downwards was assumed to lead to despair
and depression (Sprague, 1984). More recently, however, demotion has been promoted
as a useful instrument for extending older workers’ labor force participation (Boerlijst
et al., 1993; Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, 1997; Kerkhoff, 1993;
National Federation of Christian Trade Unions in The Netherlands, 2006; Schippers,
1998; Thijssen, 1996). There is no generally agreed on definition of “older worker”. In
most discussions on extending older workers’ labor force participation, however, they
are seen as workers aged 50 (e.g. European Commission, 2002a) or 55 and over (e.g.
European Commission, 2004).
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
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The effects of
demotion on
employees
195
Received 6 June 2006
Revised July 2006
Accepted 15 January 2009
Personnel Review
Vol. 39 No. 2, 2010
pp. 195-209
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0048-3486
DOI 10.1108/00483481011017417
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